On the day we entered Georgia, we stopped in Batumi to replace our broken solar shower. Then, we followed the coastline to reach a very special beach: Magnetiti, famous for its magnetic black sand. Behind the beach, there is an unmanaged but large campsite used by several tourists. Most of them were from Russia and Georgia. However, we also saw license plates from Kazakhstan, Belarus, and other European countries.
We headed into the Lesser Caucasus due to a recommendation from a Romanian family that we met at the border. There was a famous place in Gomismta that we were curious to see. Besides a lot of people having picnics and barbecues in the fog on top of the mountain, we didn’t realize what was so special about the place. We later learned that the view might be beautiful, but not that day. We immediately continued on our way to get below the clouds again. The next day, down in the valley, we visited two old bridges: one wooden and the other stone. The latter was too small and potentially too weak for modern vehicles. For this reason, a pretty common solution was performed: they built a second bridge right beside it.
While we were having a break beside the bridge, a Georgian man and his mother invited us. We followed them to their house. Although Georgia is mainly Christian Orthodox, our hosts were Muslim, as were most of the other villagers living there. We had some interesting conversations, and he showed us his favorite places in the area. After that, we started helping him with his gardening, but not for long. A phone call changed their plans because his grandmother had been brought to the hospital. I still hope this was just an excuse to send us away after making too many mistakes in his garden, but I’m not sure. Since the call seemed serious, we hope his grandmother is doing well again soon!
We tried to get back into the mountains, but we were interrupted by some roadwork. The workers taking a break beside their excavator, which was having some issues, told us, “Just wait half an hour, then you can pass.” We needed to laugh when he repeated, “Just half an hour and you can go,” one hour later. We took it with humor, though, since we were having a nice time together drinking home-brewed beer. By the time we were able to pass, night was falling, so we just looked for a suitable place to camp.
While climbing up a mountain, we were still dealing with unusually high engine temperatures. For this reason, we checked the thermostat the next morning to make sure it was working properly. Unfortunately, it was okay. We reassembled everything and continued on, keeping an eye on the temperature gauge. It felt like a wolf was following us. At least, we think we saw the same wolf twice in different places, and not two different wolves. What we were sure to be followed by was the fog, which one may eventually call clouds as well. As we drove through them on a narrow track, we were shocked to see something big and white constantly approaching us. As we got close enough, we realized it was just a wall of remaining snow. Luckily, it was beside the road and not blocking it.
After passing through a few remote villages, we finally got back on a main road. We made our way to another unique place: A spring of hot, sulfur-rich water. Tbilisi is known for its sulfur bathhouses. But this one is located right in the middle of nowhere. There are two pools for taking hot baths. It’s a little stinky around there, but that doesn’t lessen the unique experience one can have at this site.
